Wednesday, May 03, 2017

Latest news from The Bookseller


Lucy Menendez
Lucy Menendez, W H Smith business unit director for books, is standing down after 18 months in the role.
Hachette UK
Hachette UK is partnering with The Book Trade Charity (BTBS) to offer subsidised accommodation in London to people starting out on careers in publishing. 
e-book lending
Joanna Trollope called it "justice at last", as legislation making the UK the first country in the world to extend Public Lending Right (PLR) to include remote loans of e-books and audiobooks was finally passed.
Jacqueline Wilson
Three children's authors have been featured on the annual Sunday Times Rich List for the first time.
SoA
The Society of Authors (SoA) is calling on the next government to offer "more than just words" to help support British authors and the culture sector.
Why Mummy Drinks
HarperCollins has bought the début book from Gill Sims, the voice behind the hit Facebook blog "Peter and Jane".
  

Germany
After 2016 brought a welcome boost with sales up 1%, the German book industry couldn’t carry the momentum into 2017. Sales were down 4.5% in the first quarter and the mood is subdued.
United States Congress
Congressional leaders have rejected the Trump administration's proposal to eliminate money for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, according to US news reports.
Nasty Women
Scottish independent publisher 404 Ink has sold the audio rights of its debut non-fiction collection, Nasty Women, to Audible.
EDLM
Editions de La Martinière (EDLM) is laying off 10 of its 40 employees, just four years after a first wave of 19 redundancies. 

Publishers Lunch


 
Today's Meal

David Pomerico has been promoted to editorial director for Harper's Voyager imprint.

Alexis Gargagliano has left her position as executive editor at Regan Arts to work independently -- "ghostwriting, book doctoring, developing editorial strategy for websites, and helping organizations tell their stories through compelling narratives."

At Clarkson Potter, Jennifer Sit will join as senior editor, effective May 8. Previously, she was the cookbook editor at Blue Apron. Sara Neville has joined as associate editor; she was the book and stationery buyer at Urban Outfitters. Jenni Zellner has moved from Crown Archetype to Clarkson Potter as associate editor.

Sonia Sanchez has joined Open Road as email marketing manager. She was email marketing strategist for Hillary For America. Jeff Freiert has joined as copywriter. Previously, he worked in the Penguin copy department.

Harper Christian will expand its efforts in Spanish Bible publishing, with David Coyotl promoted to associate publisher to lead the effort.

At Trident Media Group,
Don Fehr has been promoted to senior vice president.

Taylor Noel has been promoted to publicist at Scribner.

In the UK, Joel Rickett will
move to Ebury this summer as deputy publisher, leading the Virgin and WH Allen imprints and taking on management responsibility for Vermilion.

WH Smith's business director for books Lucy Menendez is
leaving after 18 months in that job to join Fortnum & Mason. She will be replaced by Frankie Adams, who was most recently trading director at hardware, homeware and garden products company Wilko.

Mary Anne Thompson Associates has been appointed US book scout for Bookie Publishing House in Korea.

Awards
The James Beard Foundation presented their annual cookbook awards in 13 categories on Monday night, with Ronni Lundy's
Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes named book of the year. Judith Jones was inducted into their cookbook hall of fame.

Tuesday, May 02, 2017

The Accidental Carer


Published by Reinventors, May 1, 2017; RRP $24.99

THERE is no right or wrong way to care for someone given an end-of-life or uncertain diagnosis, but this common experience can be steeped in such mystery people simply don’t know how to cope.

After caring for her beloved husband Mike, pioneering Aucklander Ros Capper has taken her first-hand experience and turned it into a roadmap for others, with the publication of her book, The Accidental Carer.

Palliative care is care that gives comfort – it does not cure. If the person you are caring for has an illness with an uncertain future, you may be called a ‘palliative carer’ by those in the medical system and likely, feel woefully underprepared.

When her husband was diagnosed with cancer, Ros spent three years caring for him, supported by friends, family and health professionals. It was only after Mike died that she realised how little first-hand guidance was available to her and others. So, being the philanthropic and intrepid woman that she is, Ros decided to write a book and create a website resource www.accidentalcarer.com, to help fill the void and support others.

“Ros is a remarkable woman. Most of us after going through a journey like hers would not have the energy or commitment to create a resource for the benefit of others. But she has, for which I am extremely grateful, as I am sure you will be too. It has truly been a privilege for our team to support her and this project,” said Professor Merryn Gott Director, Te Arai Palliative Care and End of Life Research Group, University of Auckland.

"The lack of information written by home-based palliative carers intrigued me. What I at first thought was a gap I soon realised was a chasm, hidden in plain sight.”
 
Ros became a co-researcher with the University of Auckland Te Arai Palliative Care and End of Life Research group, who gave their full support to the research and writing of The Accidental Carer.
Ros said, “So as far as I am aware, this guide, designed to shine a light on the choices made by palliative carers at home, is the first of its kind in New Zealand. To everyone who reads this guide, I genuinely hope it inspires you to do your best – that is all we as carers can do.
“Just as importantly, I hope it encourages you to reach out for help – palliative care is not something to do alone at home.”

The Accidental Carer features the stories of five family groups of home-based palliative carers (including Ros), whose stories offer comfort to others as they undergo emotional and physical challenges. The potential for burn out is high, as carers experience a mother-load of uncertainty, grief and exhaustion. Families in this book also share the gifts they found amidst these.

“Sharing stories is an age-old way of making meaning, being inspired and strengthening our spirits to carry on,” said Ros.

With a clear and kind voice, The Accidental Carer gives practical advice on all aspects of end of life management ranging from medical appointments and communication to building a support network, novel ways to enlist support and learn resilience.

About the author:
Ros Capper was born and educated in Wellington, and now lives in Auckland. She relishes social change initiatives and her early career experiences include: New Mother Support Groups, the Tall Poppies (now integrated into Thought Partners), the Natural Step, and Co-Counselling International. Ros has returned to her vocational roots after realising home-based palliative carers and their support people are seeking hand-on practical information by those who have lived this experience. Ros was a palliative carer for her husband Mike in their home, where she explored innovative ways of attracting support. She would like to invite others similarly experienced to share their learnings on the website designed to accompany her book, so that they may be supported and empowered.

 

The Roundup with PW


100 Words By 10 Writers On 100 Days: To mark President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office, 10 writers summed up their emotions in 100 words.

America's Working-Class Literature: Working class-texts have struggled to assert their place in the American canon, but over the past half-century, that's begun to change.

No Feelings In Ancient Fiction: Literature’s evolution has reflected and spurred the growing complexity of society, and has grown more internal through the ages.

Alone With the Ghost of Emily Dickinson: What happens when a reporter for 'The New York Times' spends one hour in Emily Dickinson’s former bedroom?

How The Apple Became The Forbidden Fruit: 350 years after John Milton sold the copyright of 'Paradise Lost' for the sum of five pounds, a look at its symbolic influence.

AWF - Updates & Changes

AUCKLAND WRITERS FESTIVAL
16 - 21 May 2017

IMPORTANT UPDATES AND CHANGES

We are delighted to announce a second session with insta-poet sensation, Rupi Kaur due to popular demand, as well as extra events with David Galler and Peter Simpson following their sold out first sessions. 

Regrettably, this year's Festival sees some author cancellations. Hisham Matar is no longer visiting New Zealand as he will be in New York to collect his Pulitzer Prize, and serious family illness means Ha Jin is unable to attend. Please contact Ticketmaster or call on 09 970 9700 for ticket exchanges or refunds for their solo sessions The Return and The Boat Rocker.

We are pleased to say that two outstanding guests will replace Ha Jin in From the Other Side with Rob Schmitz. Expect a fascinating discussion on difference and commonality with Schmitz, Chinese writer Lenora Chu and Taiwanese novelist Janie Chang.

We have also increased capacity for New Zealand novelist, Catherine Chidgey's popular The Wish Child event. Photographer, art historian and essayist Teju Cole's gallery event has also moved to a larger venue, so plenty of seats now available to 12 Photography Favourites.
Check out the full programme online
View the programme ebook

SPORT 45 - reading & launch, Tuesday 23 May - your invitation

                       
                        
The editors warmly invite you a celebration of and readings from SPORT 45
on Tuesday 23 May, 6pm
at Vic Books, 1 Kelburn Parade, Kelburn (Victoria University)

Readings from Eamonn Marra, Rachel O'Neill, Jake Arthur, Rebecca Hawkes, Liang Yujing, William Brandt and Helen Heath.
MC: Fergus Barrowman

Food and beverages will be served.
SPORT 45 will be available for purchase from May 16, 2017

Off the Shelf



By Winifred Reilly    |   Monday, May 01, 2017
I’d just sat down to put the finishing touches on the introduction to my book, IT TAKES ONE TO TANGO—a self-help book about marriage—when I heard the teaser for an upcoming interview with Jessica Lamb-Shapiro on “Fresh Air.” She’d written a book called PROMISE LAND: MY JOURNEY THROUGH AMERICA’S SELF-HELP CULTURE, and from what I picked up in the sound bite, it seemed that she and Terry Gross were about to make light of me, my readers, and the book I was about to package up and send out to publishers.
Fine, I thought. Better to know in advance what the skeptics will say. READ MORE

Publishers Lunch



Today's Meal


Angela Baggetta is leaving her position as managing director at Goldberg McDuffie Communications, where she has worked for 14 year, at the end of May to launch Angela Baggetta Communications. The new company will create targeted, personalized publicity and marketing campaigns for "authors, thinkers, and doers." Baggetta will continue work with Goldberg McDuffie on particular projects as well.

Michael C. Miller has been
named chief legal officer & vp of corporate affairs at Barnes & Noble Education, reporting to ceo Max Roberts. Suzanne E. Andrews will continue as vp, general counsel, and secretary of the board, reporting to Miller. He was evp, general counsel and and secretary at Monster Worldwide.

Kathryn Santora will join Crown Publishing Group as publicity manager for Crown Archetype, Three Rivers Press, and Harmony Books. Previously, she was publicity manager for Regan Arts.

Amazon Publishing announced that Julia Sommerfeld is now editorial director of Kindle Singles. (Her LinkedIn says she took the position last October, after serving as senior manager, product and innovation for Amazon Publishing. Prior to joining Amazon, she worked for NBC News.)

Jenna Lettice, Michael Joosten, and Anna Membrino have all been promoted to associate editor for Random House Children's.

Kimberly Woods has been hired for the new position of sales director of higher education at Penguin Random House. Previously, she was with McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Travis Temple has joined in another new position, sales director of K-12 school education. Previously, he was with Norton's K-12 sales group.

In France, illustrated book imprint Editions de La Martinière is laying off 10 of its 40 employees, Livres Hebdo has
reported (via the Bookseller). Director Patrick Gambache is leaving his position, though will continue to serve as digital advisor to the ceo of the parent company.

Translation Programs Have Suddenly Got WAY Better (Here’s Why)


The new system still makes mistakes, but these are now relatively rare, where once they were ubiquitous. It uses an artificial neural network, linking digital “neurons” in several layers, each one feeding its output to the next layer, in an approach that is loosely modelled on the human brain. Neural-translation systems, like the phrase-based systems before them, are first “trained” by huge volumes of text translated by humans. But the neural version takes each word, and uses the surrounding context to turn it into a kind of abstract digital representation. It then tries to find the closest matching representation in the target language, based on what it has learned before. Neural translation handles long sentences much better than previous versions did.

Turkey Has Blocked Access To Wikipedia

Turkey did not say why it chose to block Wikipedia, other than it had taken “an administrative measure” after “technical analysis and legal consideration … .” But the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted an official from the ministry of transport who said the government blocked the site because it was part of a “coordinated smear campaign.” The article went on to say a Wikipedia entry claimed Turkey was aligned with various terrorist organizations.

Monday, May 01, 2017

Maori Oral Tradition

   
 
Picture
Māori Oral Tradition: He Kōrero nō te Ao Tawhito
by Jane McRae

  Most New Zealanders will be familiar with certain names, incidents or texts from Māori oral tradition: migration stories, or the exploits of Māui, for instance. These are from a tradition of huge variety and depth, much of it transcribed during the nineteenth century either directly by Māori, or through collections assembled by interested Pākehā.
 This book offers a way of looking at those traditions, dividing them into categories according to their structure and purpose. So we have genealogies  (whakapapa), sayings and proverbs (whakataukī), narratives, histories, stories and myths (kōrero), and songs and chants (waiata)
​ Illustrative examples in Maori, with English translations, are given throughout. Even those with little knowledge of Māori language will find it rewarding to read aloud the Māori versions, in order to hear the rhythms and imagine the dramatic pauses and emphases – those things that are lost in translation and, to some extent, simply by being put into writing.
    Language both affects the way the world is viewed and, in turn, is heavily influenced by that world view. In considering Māori oral traditions, the author demonstrates how particular words and phrases, or particular names, were used to prompt the recollection of incidents or other people or stories associated with them. Thus what might seem to a reader of the transcripts to be overly brief or incomplete narratives would have been, to the listeners on the marae, oral performances rich in meaning.
    Throughout the book, there is commentary on and illustration of the way the traditions reflect the inner life of Māori in the old world – the deep significance of immediate family and of wider social groupings, of ties to land, of key ancestral figures, of reciprocities, the satisfaction of victories and the pain of defeats. There is drama. There is poetry. It is a literature unique to this country, yet it is an important part, too, of universal oral traditions, and thus of world literature.  Furthermore, as the author points out, these oral traditions continue to be “a real and influential part of the Māori world.”
    The author says: “Knowledge in the oral society…did not come from one kind of text alone…” Indeed not; and the same could be said of the ‘literary’ world. A reading of the novels from, say, Victorian England, will provide a deeper, more intuitive knowledge of what it was like to have been a part of life there, in that time, than could any history book. We understand the past best when we experience it through the literature, oral or written, of those who lived it.
    It is impossible in a brief review to pay sufficient tribute to the accessible style in which this book is written, and to the many significant issues that are raised in it. The author states that one of her main aims in writing it was to encourage Māori language and literature students to discover more of the riches to be found in the “manuscript trove” of transcribed oral literature; and surely any such student reading the book would be enthused. But for the general reader, the book offers insights into the contribution Māori oral tradition can make to an understanding of what it should mean to be a New Zealander, and what it means to be human.
    Auckland University Press has played its part in making this book pleasurable.  The layout is neat and reader-friendly. The scholarly endnotes, and the comprehensive bibliography and index, are useful without being obtrusive. It has that rare thing, a cover that enhances the text, the symbolism incorporated there being succinctly explained in a note on the reverse of the title page. Physically, the book provides the sort of tactile and visual pleasure that is exclusive to an admirably assembled combination of ink and paper.
    But of course it really comes down to the text, and without doubt the author has written something of exceptional value. Read it. Be enriched.

Review by Tony Chapelle
Title: Māori Oral Tradition: He Kōrero nō te Ao Tawhito
Author: Jane McRae
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 978 1 86940 861 9
RRP: $45
Available: bookshops

Five Strings book launch



Kia ora,
On the evening of Wednesday 17th May at 6pm, at the Auckland Central City Library, you are warmly invited to the launch of Apirana Taylor’s new novel, Five Strings, published by Anahera Press. This launch takes place as part of Auckland Writers Festival Week. With a reading from the book by Apirana. Five Strings will be launched by Witi Ihimaera. Refreshments will be served.  Thanks to Creative New Zealand for supporting the publication of this book.

Books will be for sale on the night for $35.00, and eftpos will be available. For overseas/out-of-town friends interested in purchasing the book, it is for sale on Anahera Press’s website via secure server using credit or debit card. See http://www.anahera.co.nz/books/563-2
  Alternatively look out for the book at all good bookstores. Five Strings will also be available as an ebook in the Amazon Kindle, and Kobo stores.

Book Launch Invitation



What happens when the 12th century’s most famous lovers are caught in the crossfire of factions, religious reform and blind ambition?
Heloise is a determined young woman with an exceptional mind, longing to pursue learning rather than marriage or life as a cloistered nun. Her path inevitably crosses with Peter Abelard, the celebrity philosopher, theologian and master at Paris’ famed Cathedral School.
When two such brilliant minds meet and engage, sparks are likely to ignite. But theirs is an impossible love. This is a time when the Gregorian Reforms are starting to bite and celibacy among the clergy and church officials is being rigorously imposed.
Based on meticulous up-to-date research and the pair’s own writings, this novel offers a plausible interpretation of the known facts and a vivid imagining of the gaps in this legendary story. It shines a light on a changing world whose attitudes and politics are not so very different from our own.

Published by Penguin Random House NZ, Heloise tells the story of Heloise d’Argenteuil, famed lover of 12th century French philosopher Peter Abelard.
 

The most read stories of the past week on The Bookseller


 
 

 


 

The Psychology of a Good Book Cover

          

Covers are the first bit of customer-facing marketing that your reader will ever see. They’re a shortcut—telling the reader in shorthand that they’ll like this book, that it’s in the genre they love to read, and that the person who wrote it is someone they can trust with their valuable (often limited) reading time. That’s a lot of information to pack into one image, and still make it effective. So what’s the secret psychology behind choosing a good cover?

And choosing … there’s a reason we’re describing covers as a choice the author makes, rather than harping on the idea of do-it-yourself versus hire-someone cover design (at least for the moment—we’ll get to this later).
MORE